


Breakdown at My Scars

by eviestevie



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, I sense renora angst for the future so why not write some in advance, Ren is going to breakdown this volume I can feel it in me bones, Spoilers for Volume 8 Chapter 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27676856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eviestevie/pseuds/eviestevie
Summary: After putting her life at risk in Atlas, Nora is taken back to the crater by her team to rest. Ren and his team also return from their most recent loss. Broken and tired, the huntsman finally reaches his breaking point when he sees someone he loves hurt, giving him the opportunity to reveal his true feelings.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, There’s a sprinkle of bumbleby in here because I can’t control myself
Comments: 16
Kudos: 127





	Breakdown at My Scars

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah uhhh... Nora with lightning scars actually happened (and it’s AMAZING) but after freaking out about it my mind immediately thought “how’s Ren gonna react?”  
> So I wrote this angsty fic  
> Enjoy 😊

After Penny had departed from the group, May, Blake, Ruby and Weiss with an unconscious Nora decided it would be best to head to the crater as they had the information they needed and they were down one member who desperately needed rest and some time to heal.

“I can’t believe she did that.” Weiss muttered, kneeling by Nora’s side, inspecting the scars littered across her body.

“I can’t believe she lived.” May retorted.  
“It’s a miracle she didn’t go up in smoke, taking in that much electricity. I mean, I know you said her semblance is absorbing that stuff but... she supercharged herself with power connected to the Atlas mainframe! That’s like, the biggest source of electricity in Atlas, if not all of Remnant!”

Ruby’s brows furrowed in concern, it was terrifying honestly, seeing what Nora did. How the scars spread all over her arms, along her chest and even across the left side of her face. That whole thing could have ended... horribly.

As if she could read her thoughts, Blake spoke up.

“Well, she doesn’t seem to be in any pain.” She said, placing a hand of Weiss’ shoulder and peering over at their unconscious teammate.  
“But we should get Jaune to have a look at her, just in case.”

Blake looked up at Ruby, giving her a smile of reassurance. The young girl returned it, feeling comforted by Blake’s confidence.

“Do you think your friends will be at the crater right now? They could still be helping out in Mantle, so you might not see them for a while.” May warned, hoping that the young huntresses wouldn’t get their hopes up too high, only to find the rest of them weren’t there, and wouldn’t be back for who knows how long.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Blake said, once again reassuring those around her.

Ruby and Weiss were proud of her, she has really come into her own and took a stand to be the middle ground that supports everyone. A strong base that would hold the team steady and ease any worries they may have.

“Okay... we’ll see.” May replied, opting not to be too positive in the chance of being let down.

Oh how right she was to not get her hopes up.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Arriving at the crater was easy, getting in on the other hand was... tricky. It was packed with citizens, there was hardly any free space as many people were waiting for makeshift shelters to be made. Meaning many of them stood outside in large groups, making it difficult to manoeuvre through to find the rest of the team.

Eventually, they found a small tent with a bed and medical kit nearby. May was carrying Nora on her back and she set her down on the bed, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

“I’m gonna go check on Fi and Joanna, you guys can stay here or look for your friends. Either way, do something productive while you’re here.”

“Okay, thank you for all your help May!” Ruby smiled, waving as she left.

“Should we go look for them?” Weiss asked, concern weighing heavy on her face.

“Maybe...” Blake replied, standing in thought.  
“Although, they could already be on their way back. So if we go out into Mantle to look for them, it’ll just take finding them even longer... what do you think Ruby?”

Blake turned to their leader, valuing her opinion on what they should do. Ruby paused, thinking about their options. On one hand, they may need help in Mantle, so staying here could potentially risk the lives of their teammates and waste time that Nora needs to be healed by Jaune. On the other hand, trying to find them when they’re constantly going to be on the move would be tricky and could maybe waste even more time.

Silence stretched out as Ruby thought.

“... I think... we should stay here.” Ruby decided, standing tall to ease her distress.  
“Blake’s right, trying to find them when we have no idea where they are could waste time. We’ll stay here and help out.”

Weiss and Blake nodded, easily agreeing with their leader’s decision.

“I’ll stay nearby to keep an eye on Nora.” Weiss said.

“I’ll help with supplies and medical care for the citizens.” Blake replied.

“And I’ll secure the perimeter.” Ruby claimed.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Nora still hadn’t stirred since she broke through the barrier. It was strange, seeing her so quiet, so still, it wasn’t like Nora at all. It worried each of the girls as they checked in every now and then, they just had to hope the others would come back soon.

Ruby, Blake and Weiss had finished their tasks, they sat on empty boxes placed outside the tent, occasionally chatting but mostly waiting in an impatient silence.

Suddenly, the whirring of the larger elevator shaft caught their attention. Their was shouting and complaining heard from it.

“What happened? You all went completely offline! You can’t switch off like that, especially not now!” Fiona’s voice called.

“We were a little caught up!” An aggressive voice replied; Ren’s voice. The elevator set onto the ground and Yang, Jaune, Ren and Fiona appeared from it.

They all looked exhausted.

Ruby, Weiss and Blake stood up immediately, sprinting to them, confused and worried.

“Yang?” Blake called, slowing to a stop in front of her partner.

Yang’s eyes welled up with tears.

“O-Oscar he... he’s, I-I couldn’t hel—“ Her voice broke into sobs, she covered her mouth and fell to her knees. Blake quickly caught her and knelt with her.

Jaune clutched his head in his hands.  
“Oscar‘s gone... h-he was... taken.” He muttered.

“Taken? How?... was it Salem? Or Cinder? What the hell happened?” Ruby asked desperately, kneeling with Blake to look at her sister.

“It was... I dont know what it was, it... it spoke.” Jaune spoke, shock still consuming him.

“What? What did?” Weiss asked.

“A Grimm...” Yang muttered, her voice breaking as she clung to the back of Blake’s coat, as if she was trying to determine whether or not this was real and she wasn’t dreaming.

“W-what?” Ruby asked.

“A Grimm spoke? That’s impossible!” Blake retorted.

“Well we just saw it.” Ren replied harshly, his fists clenched tightly as he stared at the floor.  
“And it took Oscar... and I... we just... STOOD THERE.”

Dread overwhelmed all of them, a horrific sinking feeling invaded their hearts and tore away their ambition.

Oscar was gone.

Of course he was, nothing has ever gone this smoothly for them without something terrible happening.

He’s gone.

“We tried to follow it but... we couldn’t i-it had wings and... it took off and it got too high for us to see and...” Jaune cut himself off, deciding it wasn’t necessary for him to finish his sentence.

Finally, Ren looked up at the group, and he noticed something was off.

“Where’s Nora?”

Silence.

Ruby sighed.

“She... she’s been hurt—“

“What?” Ren interrupted, his voice somehow becoming more angry and fearful.

“Nora she... we were separated from Penny by an electrified door the Ace Ops had shut on us. So she... she broke it down but...” Ruby felt afraid to continue.

“May said the power coming from that door was directly connected to the Atlas mainframe.” Weiss explained, a pained look on her face.  
“Which is probably the biggest supply of electricity in all of Remnant.”

“I’ll go see her.” Jaune took to action immediately, following Weiss to the tent.

Meanwhile, Ren stood completely frozen. Unaware of anything else going on. He didn’t notice how Ruby tried to speak to him, or how Blake and Yang walked by him, sitting down nearby the tent, holding each other.

Everything else had faded away from his mind. All the other problems they were facing; Ironwood, the Ace Ops, Mantle, Salem. None of those issues came to mind.

For the first time in a while, Ren could only focus on Nora.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Eventually, Jaune had left the tent, sighing heavily from using his semblance for who knows how long. It didn’t matter though, Ren wasn’t paying attention to the time.

He still stood outside the tent, staring intently but refusing to move.

How could this happen? Nora was... strong. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Ren was brought out of his thoughts as Jaune stepped towards him.

“She’s still unconscious, but she’s ok.”

Ren said nothing. Jaune patted his shoulder for comfort before leaving.

Ren wasn’t sure if he could go in, even if she wasn’t awake. Things had been so... tense between them lately, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Nora tried so hard to get Ren to open up, just talk about what he’s feeling, what he’s thinking.

But he didn’t, he was too stubborn.

Too scared.

It was too much; Salem, the Relics, hiding the truth. There was so much stress, so much to worry about.

Ren never showed it, not until recently at least. He was cracking, his zen persona was falling apart, and the insecurities were coming through.

He would repress it, all of it. That’s what his semblance was for. Ren thought it helped at first, allowed him to focus on working and training, but in truth it didn’t.

The feeling never went away, that constant fear plaguing him every day. His semblance would hide it temporarily, let him relax for a few moments, but it would always come back. So he would repress it again, and again... and again.

Ren never told anyone how he used his semblance on himself. He knew what they would say.

“Ren, that’s not healthy.”

“You’re using your semblance for the wrong reasons!”

“You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“It’s ok to express yourself.”

But could he? What would happen if he did? He wouldn’t recover from it; breaking apart like that. He would never be the same.

“Ren, what’s going on? Why can’t you just talk to me?”

Nora’s words rang in his head. Why couldn’t he? He had known Nora longer than anyone, they grew up together, fought by each other’s side for years.

Surely, out of anyone, he should’ve been able to tell her the truth?

Ren was selfish to hide all his emotions away while Nora remained an open book to him after all these years. Guilt festered in his chest, he wanted to speak to her.

Forcing his frozen limbs to move, Ren stepped into the tent.

Only to immediately freeze up again once he sees Nora.

She’s covered in scars, even from Ren’s point of view, he can see them all over her shoulders and along her chest and neck.

He can’t take it.

Tears spill from Ren’s eyes, coursing heavily down his face, blurring his vision. He rushes towards the side of the bed and sits beside it, looking over her, tears accidentally fall on Nora’s face. Ren wipes his eyes furiously, trying his best to choke back his childish sobs.

It’s too much, years of repressed emotions finally start breaking through; how he feels about Nora, how desperately he wants to protect her.

How guilty he felt for not giving them, their relationship, a chance.

He wanted to hold her, but he was too scared. Ren didn’t want to hurt her anymore than she was, his hands trembled in his overwhelmed state and because of how badly he wanted to just pick her up and keep her close.

Instead, Ren gently holds her hand, resting his face on his arms and sobbing hysterically into the bed sheets.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hours later, Nora begins to stir, her head pounded horribly and she felt sore everywhere. It took several moments for her vision to adjust to the dark tent, the only source of light coming from a lamp in the corner of her eye.

Nora turned her head to find this light, and instead found someone familiar sleeping beside her.

Ren.

He still sat by the bed, his face turned to the side and laying on his arms. He still held Nora’s hand, though his grip was loose as he wasn’t awake.

He looked... so tired. There was red marks around his eyes and streaks of tears were left on his face. He’d been crying for an awful long time.

Slowly, Nora sat up, inspecting Ren’s face and the tent where she was being kept. No one else was inside, probably because they knew they needed some privacy and time to sleep. Although, Nora could hear distant voices of her team chatting nearby.

Nora examined her body, tracing her fingers over the new scars on her chest, they had faded to a more skin-pink colour instead of the strange burnt colour they were when she first got electrocuted.

She knew she had to thank Jaune for that later.

Nora looked back down to a sleeping Ren, still holding her hand. How long has he been here? How long was she unconscious? What happened?

All the questions she craved answers for would have to wait, as she felt her partner begin to shuffle awake.

Ren opened his eyes groggily, he groaned at being disturbed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

“Ren...” Nora spoke.

She didn’t have time to continue, as Ren immediately shot up at the sound of his name being called.

He released her hand and stared at Nora in shock. Silence, he didn’t know what to say.

But Nora knew what he needed to hear.

“Are you okay?”

Miraculously, it appeared Ren still had tears to spare, as his eyes began to sting once more. Without hesitation, he pulled Nora into a hug, refusing to let go.

“I’m sorry.” He sobbed, burying his face into her shoulder.  
“I’m so fucking sorry, Nora.”

Nora remained silent, slowly wrapping an arm around Ren’s torso loosely.

“Hi...” She muttered, her voice was hoarse from the damage she suffered.

“I should’ve been there to protect you. That’s what I’m meant to do.”

“You didn’t have to do anything.” Nora explained, holding him a little tighter.  
“I chose to break that barrier, sure I got hurt, but if I didn’t the Ace Ops would have taken Penny to Ironwood and... I just couldn’t let that happen.”

“I know.” Ren whimpered, his chest twisted tightly as his emotions continued to spill along with in his tears. He shook violently as he tried to dampen the sounds of his crying.

“Hey... shh, it’s okay. We’re okay.” Nora rubbed his back, trying to soothe him.

“It’s not okay.”

“Ren—“

“I’ve been selfish, Nora.” Ren sat up and looked at her.  
“I’ve been cruel a-and heartless and distant and that’s not fair. You deserve so much better.”

Nora listened in shock, she could have never predicted this from Ren.

“I-I just... so much has happened and I can’t... I don’t know if I can keep it together anymore I... I’m scared, Nora. I’m really scared.”

Nora felt her own tears begin to well up in her eyes as she reached out to wipe away Ren’s from his face. She stayed quiet and continued to listen.

“I... I thought if I just focused on training... kept getting stronger then I would’ve been prepared for if anything happened. But I wasn’t.”

“None of us could have prepared for this, Ren.” Nora replied.

“I pushed you away... I hurt you and you didn’t deserve it, ever! I don’t know why, I just...”

“You’re scared of your own feelings.” Nora finished for him.

Ren nodded.

“Oh Ren... come here.” Nora pulled him into a hug, squeezing him as tight as she possibly could, which wasn’t very much given her current state.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Ren admitted, clinging to her like a lifeline.

“You won’t, I promi—“

“I love you.”

Nora froze, processing what he said.

All these years, Nora assumed her feelings were one sided, that Ren just didn’t see her that way. She remembers how nervous she became after the election party, terrified that she crossed the line by kissing him and that there was no turning back from it. She was so afraid she might have ruined everything.

Yet here she was, processing his confession, something he probably kept hidden for a long time. An assumption that was likely true as Nora noticed how Ren’s shoulders seemed to drop and relax out of relief after finally telling her the truth.

Nora smiled, overjoyed to finally see Ren opening up. She hoped this would continue in the future, then hopefully, together they could learn who they really are. Both with and without the other.

As Blake said, a person you love is only a part of you. You should never forget the rest.

And now that honesty was coming through, she believed that she could learn who these parts of Ren truly are.

Nora kissed his forehead and held him close.

“I love you too.”


End file.
